A curious point, why was John Hurt shown in the finale of last season, looking old as the hills? I got the impression that was some future Doctor, maybe the next one, which we now know he is not. He had no dialogue and no easily perceptible reason for being there. I didn't imagine him, did I?

No, you didn't imagine it; he was there in preparation for his appearance in the 50th anniversary show, in November. The show’s costume designer, Howard Burden, described Hurt as a “dark Doctor” and added:

“There was a gap between Paul McGann playing the Doctor [#8] and Christopher Eccleston [#9], when we didn’t see a regeneration, and John Hurt will fit into that gap. He is a past Doctor, not a future Doctor.”

Some fans are speculating that this "dark" Doctor is responsible for the destruction of Gallifrey -- that would be interesting! But whatever Hurt's role, it screws up the numbering of the Doctors (unless they're going to call him Doctor #8.5).

Maybe so...I'm probably not remembering it correctly. But that IS a cool idea, and I hope it does have something to do with Gallifrey. Personally, I thought wiping out the time lords was a mistake. And the story of what happened was never really told, only referred to. But now maybe we'll get some answers.

On BBCAmerica, tonight: An Adventure in Time and Space, a dramatization of how Doctor Who came into being.

Saturday, the 50th-anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, featuring both Matt Smith and David Tennant. This one will be a global simulcast, sometime in the afternoon here (1:30 where I live); you'll need to check your local time. It will be repeated during the evening.

Evidently the Who producers agree with you, Chris, since the three Doctors did a little rewriting of history and Gallifrey was "frozen in one moment of time" instead of being wiped out. I'm glad of that, because I like the idea of the Doctor belonging to a race of travelers in time and space instead of being the only one (which makes him kind of a freak). Clara accused the Doctor of having no purpose, just flying around having adventures. Well, now he has a purpose. Find Gallifrey!

That should keep the new Doctor busy for quite a while. But he knows where Gallifrey is located physically, so the search must be to find it in time, at that exact moment it was frozen. Then begins the defrosting...

If this were any other series, I'd be concerned about this new purpose because it has an eventual end-point. But I know this is one show that will never run out of ideas, so, why worry?

I liked the three doctors, although that's probably the end of John Hurt's stint. I especially liked seeing Tom Baker show up at the end. He's still my fave. An Adventure in Time and Space was disappointing; it was mostly homage to William Hartnell. I wanted to see more of the "how" behind the origins, such as the casual way the interior of the Tardis was "designed", if you can call it that. How did they come up with the idea of the Daleks in the first place? And that music -- all we were shown was a hand jotting down notes on staff paper. Who invented the sonic screwdriver? Or the dog robot? That's the kind of thing I wanted to see.